ISSUE No. 7. Published by The British Harpsichord Society SUMMER 2013 Tenth Anniversary Issue celebrating the founding of the BHS INTRODUCTIONS Our Guest Editor JANE CHAPMAN and our Founder WILLIAM VINE p1 NEWS ICHKM The 2nd International Conference in Edinburgh, Dartington p6 International Summer School, The BHS Composition Competition Prize Winners Concert, & ‘Roots of Revival’ Horniman Museum Conference. FEATURES The 10th Anniversary Composition Competition‐ PAMELA NASH p9 The Harpsichord music of Sister Caecile‐ ANDREW WOOLLEY p15 Painting Music‐ CATHERINE PECK p17 An Introduction to the ‘Oriental Miscellany’‐ JANE CHAPMAN p25 Lateral thinking for Harpsichordists- JANE CLARK p32 The Museum of Instruments at the RCM- JENNY NEX p37 Learning the harpsichord in France, part 2- HÉLÈNE DIOT p50 Michael Thomas & the Bate Collection- DAVID MILLARD p55 REPORT A BHS visit to Cambridge- NICHOLAS NEWTON p13 REVIEWS Sound and Visionary- Louis Bertrand Castel.- DEREK CONNON p34 Celebrating the 85th birthday of Zuzana Růžičková- PAMELA NASH p47 YOUR LETTERS Anthony Fox, Colin Booth p63 OBITUARIES MARY MOBBS, STEPHEN DODGSON and RAFAEL PUYANA p65 Please send your comments & your contributions to [email protected] 1 INTRODUCTION Greetings! This issue marks the 10th anniversary of the British Harpsichord Society, so has something of a celebratory feel. Regular readers already know the score – but for those new to us, the magazine has for each issue a different Guest Editor who selects, searches out and often writes the main features. This time around it has been a pleasure to have harpsichordist Jane Chapman, who has done more to raise the profile of the contemporary instrument than anyone else in the UK; indeed The Independent dubs her ‘the hippest harpsichordist in the UK’. She has assembled a thought provoking, eclectic and engaging selection of harpsichord- related features, news, opinions and ideas – not to mention some lovely images. As always, we love to receive your comments, suggestions, and articles, so please do keep sending them to [email protected] Karen Chung Editor Please note that opinions voiced here are those of the individual authors and not necessarily those of the BHS. All material remains the copyright of the authors and may not be reproduced without their express permission 2 INTRODUCTION From our Guest Editor, Jane Chapman was very pleased to be asked by the BHS to help compile this Summer's issue, particularly as it brings together and explores many of my passions and interests I which I hope you will share. As a harpsichordist who has played much contemporary music, I was honoured to be a member of the final panel to choose the winner of the BHS Composition Prize, a competition instigated by Pamela Nash, which has received much support and encouragement from BHS members. I really recommend attending the concert on July 27 at the Foundling Museum, London, where a whole spectrum of short contemporary works shall be performed by established and young players. (see BHS Concert Diary and the website News page, for further details) You will hear an impressive variety of styles revealing how imaginative and idiomatic composers can be in the 21st century. A similar competition has now been launched at the Horniman Museum, so please encourage any Jane Chapman in contemporary mode young composers out there to enter. Information can be found at http://www.horniman.ac.uk/get_involved/blog/blog/the-horniman-musical- composition-competition As one of the professors of harpsichord at the Royal College of Music, I feel very fortunate that the Museum is in the same building as our teaching studios, and curator Jenny Nex has done excellent work in making it more accessible to students and the public, as can be seen from her interview. At the RCM, as well as having principal study harpsichordists, all keyboard students are given a short course of harpsichord and Trio Aporia, Jane Chapman with Stephen Preston-baroque flute, Richard Boothby-viola da gamba fortepiano lessons, receiving guidance on how to interpret music stylistically on the piano, which 3 subsequently leads to some students taking up the harpsichord as a serious study. The Museum is a fabulous resource, and is a great way of introducing students to original instruments, allowing them the opportunity to perform in public. Hélène Diot’s piece provides an in-depth analysis of harpsichord education in France, which is very interesting to compare with our education system, and also reminds us of the benefits of the Erasmus exchange programme, which the RCM also subscribes to. Harpsichord decoration has always inspired me, particularly as I sometimes project images onto my instrument during performances, seeing this as a continuation of an established tradition. Catherine Peck brings together some of the most beautiful examples of painted lids and soundboards from the Russell Collection, Edinburgh. I am particularly drawn to the concept of ‘horror vacui’ or ‘fear of the empty’, and how this manifests itself visually. The clavecin oculaire (in a book reviewed by Derek Connon) is something of an enigma, as can be our perception of the meaning and interpretation of music and the arts in 18th century France. Jane Clark aims to shed some light on this, and illustrates what may lie behind the seemingly obvious. My own recent research into The Oriental Miscellany, which is the first adaptation of Indian music transcribed specifically for harpsichord, has been a fascinating journey, encompassing not only Anglo-Indian cultural attitudes, but also Indian music performance practice of the late 18th century. My article tries to put this in context, showing the harpsichord as an important cultural tool, particularly for women players who collected Hindustani Airs. The significance of religious institutions for the training of women musicians in the 17th century is examined by Andrew Woolley, and I’m greatly looking forward to his forthcoming publication on the Roper manuscript. An attractive Courante, possibly by Sister Caecile, can be accessed via the link in the article. The Bate Collection, Oxford, houses several harpsichords originally collected by Michael Thomas, an interesting figure in the world of early music. David Millard writes about the background to the purchase of these instruments, and his quest for information to create a database. Do contact him directly if you have anything to contribute. [email protected] Two pioneers of the harpsichord are celebrated: Zuzana Růžičková who is still active today, having made over 100 recordings of barque repertoire, and 20th century music by Czech composers, on both the traditional and revival instruments, and the flamboyant virtuoso Rafael Puyana who died earlier this year. His recording of Soler's Fandango, which I listened to on my first LP, was a great inspiration to me as a young player, and I'm sure his playing will continue to enthrall future generations. Finally I would like to offer my condolences to Jane Clark, wife of the late Stephen Dodgson, whose compositions have inspired many players, not only because of the affinity he has with the harpsichord, but due to a sense of humanity that is communicated in his music, and also to acknowledge the exquisite artistry of the internationally renowned soundboard painter Mary Mobbs, who passed away in February. Jane Chapman Guest Editor Jane is Professor of harpsichord at the Royal College of Music, and was recently artist in residence at the Foyle Special Collections Library, Kings College, London 4 BHS- Celebrating 10 years A few words from our Founder The idea of starting a harpsichord society began from the difficulty I experienced in finding out much about the instrument when I first tried, in the late 80s. Over time, more information appeared but was quite scattered. The objective I set myself was to make as much information about the harpsichord available as possible, with as little effort as possible. So out went any notions of collecting subscriptions, sending anything out by post or reminding people to renew their memberships. In that, we were more fortunate than our predecessors in other societies, as the web and email made communication much cheaper and easier. I started knowing nothing and nobody, but set about creating a simple and effective website. Some suggested dropping the ‘British’, but I didn’t feel qualified even for that, much less the world, and there was also the question of time to cover more than the UK. So it was a pleasant surprise to find that almost half of the membership came from outside the UK, a trend that continues today. In time, some of the earliest members agreed to contribute their time and knowledge to build on the modest start I made. Many of them still do, and the continuing success of BHS is down to their efforts. We started offering performances with the support of The London Harpsichord Centre, but soon outgrew that space. Since then we have maintained a long-term association with the Handel House Museum to offer solo harpsichord recitals. Running the Society without membership funds has always been a challenge, but we have remained committed to the principle of free membership. Income from advertising instruments for sale has been augmented by donations. If you appreciate what BHS does, please consider a donation, however small. We can now accept donations by Paypal, via our website, www.harpsichord.org.uk . The Committee always welcomes new volunteers. Ten years ago, I planted the seed, which others have nurtured and all thanks are due to them for making BHS the success it is today. William Vine 5 NEWS ICHKM 19 – 21 July 2013 The 2nd International Conference on Historical Keyboard Music The keyboard and its role in the internationalisation of music 1600-1800 The University of Edinburgh, Scotland. http://www.ichkm.music.ed.ac.uk/conference-programme/ This conference is intended as an international meeting of scholars and performers working in the field of keyboard studies.